Top Rural Physician Locum Tenens Companies

Working rural locums can be a richly rewarding career step for passionate physicians. But even the most community-oriented provider will tell you that it’s the winning combination of passion and strategy that turns a demanding role into a sustainable career. 

Choosing a locum tenens company that fits your needs as a person and your career goals as a professional is critical to preventing presenteeism and burnout and maintaining your work life balance. But with so many locums agencies on the market that serve multiple regions, starting to do your research can be a little daunting. 

Rural locums comes with a specific set of navigation, resource-management, and cultural competency skills. Taking stock of the questions you'll need answers to is a great place to begin your research. For example, how should you narrow down your search to target agencies in the right region? Seek out the right fit in terms of support, from hands-off to concierge assistance? Or, better yet, find a recruiter who understands your motivations and career goals to find the perfect match?

Making this market more transparent and navigable to you is at the core of everything we do.

So we’ve put together a list to help you kickstart your rural locums agency search.

Rural Physician Locum Tenens Companies

• Era Locums
• Wapiti Medical Staffing
• Floyd Lee Locums
• Wilderness Medical Staffing
• Docs Who Care
• We Have Over 30 Years of Combined Experience in Rural Healthcare Staffing

Era Locums

• Best for: Tailored, concierge service for physician founders. 

As a physician-focused concierge recruitment agency, Era and its expert team have decades of experience empowering talented providers. Founded by industry veteran, Sigrid Boring, Era grew by 144.9% since 2022 through our commitment to radical transparency and ethical partnership: sharing pay rates, ensuring physicians keep 100% of bonuses, and fighting hidden fees. 

Our partnership with the NRHA makes us a vetted and preferred provider with deep networks at many rural facilities. But we also have an insider knowledge of rural provider and facility needs, that allows our experts to better match physicians with assignments where you’ll thrive, ensuring the logistical and cultural fit is as strong as the clinical need. Responsive and real, we’re here to make your life in rural locums easier with concierge services (groceries, housing, elevated credentialing, recruiter support on-call) and playbooks for negotiating contracts and pricing your work.

Wapiti Medical Staffing

• Best for: Stable, dependable provider network.

Wapiti Medical Staffing distinguishes itself as the largest rural locums firm in the Midwest. Named for the Shawnee and Cree words for “elk”, Wapiti prides itself in the strength and stability of its provider network. And it’s built that network over 30 years of deep integration into the midwestern healthcare landscape.

Their primary approach to locums is through a consultative partnership model that provides tailored solutions like guaranteed 24-hour shifts and block scheduling. Wapiti has a proven track record of strong and consistent service for rural healthcare facilities.

Floyd Lee Locums

• Best for: Personalized, wrap-around support. 

Floyd Lee Locums delivers personalized locum tenens recruitment and support services for roles across the U.S. A departure from the transactional approach found in other spaces, they step in to manage the details from negotiating contracts and managing licensing to arranging pet care, booking dinner reservations, and helping them find a local gym or church while on assignment.

Their rural locum tenens services focus on coordinating strategic plans with healthcare facilities that are tailored to their specific needs. Ranging from traditional locums, to telehealth, to continuing education in cultural competency areas, they provide a wealth of opportunities for providers seeking the right role in a niche market.

Wilderness Medical Staffing

• Best for: Deep experience with providers serving remote locations, as well as tribal healthcare systems.

Covering the Western U.S. including Alaska, Wilderness Medical Staffing specializes in finding and placing physicians for hard-to-reach healthcare sites. Their clients range from rural healthcare facilities, to critical access hospitals, tribal health facilities, and integrated health systems and industrial sites. This is a company built by and for healthcare professionals with a deep understanding of the demands of rural and remote locum tenens work.

In a market most staffing firms avoid because of the logistical complexities of remote access, Wilderness navigates with savvy to find providers who are adaptable, road-ready and culturally competent. They’re highly rated by clients for their thorough vetting process that fits regional community needs.

Docs Who Care

• Best for: Emergency department, inpatient and outpatient staffing for rural hospitals in the central U.S.

Serving an area that is quite literally the American heartland, Docs Who Care services over 250 facilities with a roster of eminently qualified providers. They offer a lifestyle-centered approach where locums can hand-pick your shifts (from full-time to moonlighting) to create time for family, volunteer work, or other passions, all while providing a critical "relief valve" to prevent burnout in underserved rural communities.

They primarily focus on inpatient coverage, with the value add for some physicians being that some assignments are in lower-volume settings, and emergency departments which have a higher volume and a wider range of schedule selections. As a company that also staffs APPs and NPPs.

We Have Over 30 Years of Combined Rural Health Staffing Experience

As a rural locums, you’re seeking a placement where you can make maximum impact while also taking the next step in your career. And we’re here to empower you to do just that. With over three decades of experience, we have the deep knowledge, networks, and experience to support you as you build your business and choose where you go next.

Practice at your full potential in your locums era. Let’s get started.